BDTW 2010

BDTW 2010 - Breaking Down the Wall

A group of 12 Christians from four different countries
got together during the Chinese New Year week to
circumnavigate around Taiwan. Our goal was to
"break down the walls" of Taiwan, to plant seeds in
the different cities that we visit. We left Kaohsiung
City on Friday night, then traveled anti-clockwise
- from Kenting to Taitung, then to Hualian, Taipei,
and finally heading south again to Taichung and
Tainan.


The Group
In Alphabetical order: Alan (Vancouver, Canada) Iris (Vancouver, Canada)
Andrew (Abbotsford, Canada) Jocelyn (Toronto, Canada)
Ansy (Wales, UK) Joshua (Texas, USA)
Carmen (Ottawa, Canada) Katie (Louisiana, USA)
Critic (Montreal, Canada) Luke (Philadelphia, USA)
Grace (Vancouver, Canada) Ricci (Kaohsiung, Taiwan)




Every single morning we would wake up to the worship music of Luke's laptop. And then Carmen would lead us into a time of singing and devotions. It was awesome and painful at the same time – since we were all cram school teachers who were used to waking up at 10am, waking at 7:30am every day was not pleasant. The best part was that we had booked “tong-pu” as our accommodations every night. “Tong-pu” is pretty much a room with bedding and sheets put side by side each other. So the 12 of us all slept in one room for most of the trip (girls one one side, guys on the other, mind you). I'm sure you can imagine that we'll all wake up, sit up in bed, and start the day, literally, with praises to God. We were brought together into a tight group simply by the proximity of each other, and of course, with our common faith in Jesus! It's amazing how tight our group became, and we did not all know each other very well before the trip. Many of us were mere acquaintances. But after a week of bonding and seeing the good, bad, and ugly of each other, it feels like we've known each other for years!

What did we do?
The trip was initially planned as a “vacation” for us foreigners without families here in Taiwan, but it slowly evolved into a missions trip. Since we left at the eve of Chinese New Year, many told us that the locals would be spending time with their families for the first half of the week. Hence while we were on the east coast, we mostly traveled, checked out the beauty of the island, and practiced our skits, testimonies, and music. Although we didn't plan any “official” evangelical meetings, we still met a lot of cool people!

One morning, while having breakfast at a local breakfast shop, we left our keys inside one of our vans! The breakfast shop family called up their locksmith friend, who was out running errands for the festival. While the boys try their luck at picking the lock, the girls stayed inside the breakfast shop and chatted with the workers and the staff. Apparently, the owner of the shop is a Christian man, but it seems like the rest of his family are non-believers. After the locksmith came (and picked the lock in a mere five seconds!), we gave the breakfast shop family and staff a short presentation of songs and a skit! We also gave them some Christian material, and the owner was especially touched. Although we were delayed for an hour on our trip, it's amazing how God placed us in that particular shop, where the family just so happen to know a locksmith friend, where the owner just so happen to be a Christian who may have needed encouragement for being the only believer in his family. It's so amazing how God works that we were completely left in awe and praise!
Our team with the breakfast shop family and staff

In Taichung, we partnered up with a missionary. Instead of having their usual Thursday night Bible Study, we decided to hold a special presentation with songs, skits, and testimonies. Our goal was to attract people to come to out on that night, and hopefully build relationships with them so that they will continue attending the Thursday night Bible Study. We went out to the night market, played some songs and did some skits, and passed out flyers and talked to people. I think that was one of the hardest thing I've done. It was difficult to go up and talk to people. Even when we were handing out candy and colouring books to children, their parents would reject our offer. To top it off, it was raining and cold. It makes me wonder how much courage missionaries need to randomly go up to people and talk to them. How do people like Dr. K. P. Yohannan, the founder of Gospel for Asia, have the courage to climb onto a rock and start preaching and telling his Indian brothers that they need Jesus? It was really humbling, and made me realize how fearful I am of what others think of me.



Our last stop for the trip was Tainan, where we partnered up with the Living Water Church for a presentation in the evening. This partnership was a miracle in itself, because things wasn't confirmed until two days before our arrival! The church is completely amazing. The church is mission-minded, and they started a cafe beside their church to raise funds for missions. We worked with the university/college fellowship, and their passion and energy for Christ blew me away! They were so willing to help, so willing to learn and step out of their comfort zone. I believe the spirit of our team was lifted just by being with this group for a day! We decided to host our small skit/music presentation outside a mall this time. One of the guys from the fellowship was willing to wear the clown suit that we borrowed from my home church in Kaohsiung! So there we were, walking through the busy streets of Tainan, with a balloon-making clown telling people that Jesus loves them in a loud voice! I am deeply amazed at the love for Jesus the group has.

Reflections
Honestly, God has been teaching me so much from this trip – and not just from the trip itself but the times of preparation beforehand and the reflections afterward. The planning was not easy, to say the least! Back home, there was always a pastor that would do all that legwork of contacting people and preparing an itinerary. On top of that, our team did not meet together until the night before hitting the road, and not everybody knows everybody. We were all from different backgrounds, different walks of life, and not exactly on the same page in terms of what this trip was going to end up looking. As a matter of fact, none of us had any idea what would happen. We simply prepared as much as we can and played by ear.

Yet among the confusion, God blessed us! We learned a lot from each other, and it's so cool how we were all different parts of the same body and each used their gift to the fullest extent. Even with a lack of sleep and getting lost in a strange city without a map, some of our members were still able to calmly handle the situation. Even when we were cold and in the rain, some of our members were still able to pull a smile and go up to a complete stranger and hand out a flyer. God is good, and He gave us a team who loves Him and loves each other.

Everything fell into place, and it's not because we prepared enough or that we expected things to turn out the way it did. No – it was ultimately divine intervention. The worst situations that could happen on a road trip happened that week (i.e. locking keys in a car, car battery dying, getting lost without a map), yet each situation was resolved shortly after prayer! It was like God's way of telling us that He was with us, even when we mess up.

I believe that seeds were planted this week, and that God had used us to encourage other partners in Christ around Taiwan. Our hope is that Breaking Down the Wall 2010 would become Breaking Down the Wall 2011... but who knows? Maybe God will use other ways to extend His kingdom, to glorify His name.